Posture

Posture

Sit up

Posture is the way you hold yourself as you row.

Good rowing posture has the pelvis in a neutral position i.e. tilted in line with the lower spine.

NEUTRAL – pelvis and lower spine aligned. Lower back is FLAT.

‘COUCH POTATO’ – pelvis tilted back more than lower spine. Lower back is BOWED, curved outwards.

‘GYMNAST’ – pelvis is tilted further forward than lower spine. Lower back is HOLLOW, curved inwards.

How to find the correct rowing posture for you

Sit down on an erg or at the kitchen table – somewhere un-upholstered so that you can tell how much sagging is you and not the soft cushions. Slump a little, let your back relax. Now have someone press firmly on the top of your head. Push your head up against this hand until you are sitting tall. Notice how you lengthen your spine.

Which muscles did you feel moving first?

What happens to your shoulders as you push your head up more firmly?

That’s right – the higher you try to go the more you pull your shoulders down. It is a long lower back that makes you taller.

Good rowing posture requires core strength. If the athlete is weak and lacks control of the muscles in the core then sitting well is not possible for long periods.

A brief description of the rowing posture

Good posture in sculling or rowing requires that the pelvis be in neutral position and the lower spine straight. The upper body is free to stretch forward during the recovery towards the catch and will be slightly rounded.

In order for the pelvis to be in the neutral position the athlete should sit well on the seat rather than on the front edge. The athlete should have contact between the upper thigh and the seat rather than the lower back and the seat.

How to coach rowing posture

Sit on an erg

in your usual TV-watching slumped position, feet unstrapped. Your tailbone will be somewhere near the middle of the seat and your back curved. Now stretch forward as far as you can.

Where do your fingers reach to?

How do the muscles round your shoulders and chest feel?

What happens to your feet when you stretch forward?

Now roll forward until your shins are vertical.

How far has your handle moved?

Go back to the finish position

Shuffle back on the seat until your tailbone is at the back and you can feel the front of the seat against your hamstrings. Stretch forward again.

There may be some protest from your hamstrings but how far can you reach forward now?

How do the muscles round your shoulders and chest feel?

What happens to your feet when you stretch forward?

Now roll forward again

How long is your stroke now?

Benefits of a Good Posture

Sitting towards the back of the seat allows the pelvis to tilt, increasing the range of movement in your lower back and increasing the length of your stroke.

Using the pelvis and the muscles around it to stretch forward relaxes the upper body. This will make it easier to move your arms and thus control the blade as well as making it easier to breathe.

Moving the pelvis means that you’re using the large muscle groups around it; using them through a greater distance and making it possible for them to do more work generate more power and accelerate the boat better.

COMMENTS (3)

I regularly find that my tailbone is rubbed raw at the end of a long outing – could this be due to not sitting far enough back on the seat? I have tried seat pads but they do not seem to help, in fact if anything they exacerbate the problem. Thank you.

Sara
This is a problem that I also experience particularly when rowing with Janousek Stampfli seats! I put this down to the design of their seat shape because I don’t get it with Filippi seats.

I think it’s due to
1 – sitting too far back on the seat which encourages (2) below
2 – leaning back and collapsing back onto my tailbone at the finish of the stroke

Seat pads won’t help with number 2.

May I suggest you get someone to film you when you are tired because that is when your technique is most likely to become erratic? And send us the photos

My “cure” is to put micropore tape onto my tailbone before the outing over the areas where it rubs raw – you need a friend to do this for you as it’s pretty funny and impossible to position correctly yourself.
And speak to your coach and get them to look at your posture at the finish – are you rotating your pelvis downwards or not?

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